This American astronomer created Moon's image from 2.8L photos
What's the story
The most detailed image of the Moon by American astronomer Andrew McCarthy is going viral on social media.
The high-resolution image capturing every last aspect of the Moon's surface down to its smallest elements has been posted online by McCarthy.
He claims to have been working on this lunar image for two months which he made from 2.8L individual photos.
Here's more.
The picture
Why is the image so special?
The image reveals the highly cratered lunar surface in such incredible detail that you can even look at the edges of the craters and see the finer details.
The image displays the patterns of impact craters on the Moon's surface as well as solidified lava lakes, collapsed lava tubes, and perpetually shadowed canyons.
McCarthy shared that he took the image using two telescopes.
Fascinated by moon
Moon, a fascination
McCarthy says that he has always been fascinated by the Moon.
"The moon tells a different story. From a distance, we see it as a bright light in the sky with some interesting shapes on the surface but otherwise tend to take it for granted. After all, we're seeing it from about 250k miles away, which can make it hard to appreciate," he tweeted.
Twitter Post
McCarthy has always been a fan of the Moon
Alright time to get a little philosophical... and answer the question: WHY do I always take photos of the moon, when many of my peers actually hate the moon for disrupting astrophotography with its presence? pic.twitter.com/DYrItMjafl
— Andrew McCarthy (@AJamesMcCarthy) May 6, 2023
How did he make it
Two months of hard work and dedication
It took about two months McCarthy to capture, process the images, and stitch them together to create the final product.
Explaining the process behind the stunning images, he wrote, "Using two telescopes and over 280,000 individual photos, I captured my most detailed image of our moon. The full size is over a gigapixel. Trust me, you'll want to zoom in on this one."
Past works
Other works featuring celestial bodies
One can tell from McCarthy's Instagram account that he is in love with the Universe and everything related.
In the past, McCarthy has clicked Venus, Sun nebulas, and other stunning shots of the celestial bodies - combining art and science in a perfect balance.
Previously, he also shared images of the Moon that he made from over 50,000 photos.